Shadows Of The Damned Once Had A More "Unique" Style

Grasshopper Manufacture's Shadows of the Damned drops on June 7; EA is producing the game, and during a recent interview with guru Shinji Mikami, we learn the project was once very different. Well, it was until EA intervened; what once had a more "unique" style has been altered to appeal to a larger audience.

He also goes on to discuss the pros and cons of dealing with a large publisher. Obviously, EA intends to produce a quality product - they've been doing that a lot as of late - and there's no doubt that guys like Mikami and Suda51 want to compromise their vision. But it seems it all worked out in the end; Mikami doesn't appear disappointed, right?

Not really. The mainstream is where everyone wants to be, because unless you have a VERY aggressive marketing campaign, you're not likely to make an impact otherwise. At least it doesn't look like a CoDclone.

I meant developers/directors/writers, y'know, creative people. Okay, not really. I remember you mentioning that you're a musician, and I'm trying to write. That being said, what is mainstream generally seems to be of a lower quality because there is so much of the same out there to compare it against, and that brings all of it down.

Do you think Michael Jackson would have had the same amount of success if he was debuting today, and having to face off against all of the other pop artists out there?

Guess the "suits" feel it will at least have a better chance of breaking even. This seems the biggest issue these days... developers are finding it difficult to make money... unless you are a CoD developer of course :)

Yesssss....because the 'wider audience' these days are NOT the hardcore market, that much we can establish. The 'Majority' of 'Gamers'....are those who buy the Wii, those that buy shovelware, those that buy DS's, those that aren't hardcore nor the nerds that the hardcore were proudly during the classic days of NES or even beyond Nintendos' original rise to power.

The hardcore market isn't as massive as the casual market, that much should be obvious to the 'Hardcore' gamer, because we see shit like 'KINECT SELLING(Shipping) 10 MILLION' ?! KIDDING ME!!!..... Mind boggling.

Nintendogs is the casual-'Gamers' Super Mario Bros 3.

Be very afraid, wider market = EA said to them: "We want a god damn RE4-like game! It must be teh BEST GAME EVAR!"

It still looks quite unique. It's not as though it's a straight rip of RE. It's gothic horror. I'm hopeful for it, but releasing on the same day as inFamous 2... it probably won't go down well with the PS crowd, early on at least. And why haven't you guys mentioned Alice: Madness Returns, another EA title launching a week later?
Peace.

If their idea is so great then why not come up with the money themselves? "Oh we can't afford to make our idea into a game." Well guess what buddy, none of us can. It's called "a loan." You take it out, you make your game, and the sales pay back the loan. Or are you not that confident in your project? You're not? Well, then if EA is kind enough to take your crazy looking game and fund it, then you better believe they're going to tell you which way to take it.